You're invited to the city hall open house on Saturday

You're invited to the city hall open house on Saturday

Neighbors grab your coats, your hats, your kids - and get on down to the city's Open House this Saturday.

This is the third year the city has hosted an open house event.

During the event folks can learn about city resources, meet local elected officials, ask questions and offer ideas on things you think can be improved throughout the city.

The open house runs from 10-2:00p.m., at 601 5th Ave.

Here's what organizers say you can expect if you're planning to come:

  • Tours of the Mayor's Office and City Council Offices
  • Q&A session with the mayor
  • Workshops on the legislative process and interpreting credit reports
  • Tabling by City departments and the City Attorney's Office
  • Live music
  • A farmer's market

Anyone and everyone is invited to stop by and check it out.

Community Sponsors

Specializing in residential repairs.
Genuine Concern for Your Well-being!
“The friendly center” where all are warmly welcomed.

Design meeting for proposed development rescheduled for Feb. 15th

Design meeting for proposed development rescheduled for Feb. 15th

Last week's winter blast forced a number of city meetings to be canceled, including an early design guidance meeting for the proposed development at 2406 32nd Ave. W.

The meeting, originally scheduled for Jan. 18th, has been pushed back to Wednesday, February 15th, at 8:00p.m., inside the Queen Anne Community Center, 1901 1st Ave W., Room 3.

Residents and business owners are encouraged to come to the meeting and provide comments on the design aspects of the development.

The proposed design includes 28 residential units, parking stalls, and commercial space on the first floor.

Currently, the buildings on the property are vacant.

Many nearby business owners say they're excited to see something finally starting to happen with the property.

City beefs up pothole patrol following storm

Seattle Mayor Mike McGinn says he is deploying more crews to fix the city's ever-deepening pothole problem.

Last week’s winter storm left some streets looking like a minefield of craters. But the mayor is promising to get the city’s roads back in shape as fast as possible.

"We're just starting, so the public should call them in when they see them," said McGinn. And the cities says it will respond.

“We are going to increase our forces from our standard three crews to four crews in the north end of the city, (and) two in the south end,” said Seattle Department of Transportation spokesman Steve Pratt.

The mayor added Mother Nature alone isn’t to blame for the wrecked roads.

“The number of potholes we're seeing and the condition of our streets is a reflection of the fact that declining revenues and statewide initiatives that have taken away funding sources for us. (It) means we don't have the resources we need to do the job," he said.

McGinn wants the state to help fill the revenue gap to help cities repave damaged streets.

Windy conditions knock out power throughout Puget Sound

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story erroneously stated that the 60-foot tree fell in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.

SEATTLE -- Residents in Magnolia say they survived the snow, ice and flooding during last week's storm, but they couldn't escape a violent Tuesday night wind storm that knocked out power to many in the neighborhood.

Seattle City Light spent much of Tuesday evening trying to repair several hundred outages, most due to trees falling on power lines.

Windy conditions also made for a tension-filled night in White Center.

Michele Leise said she was watching TV when all of the sudden something exploded behind her house.

"A big bang like something blew up, and all the power went out," she said.

The noise she heard was a large branch falling from a tree and landing on power lines.

"And it was sparking and arcing. I called 911 and the fire department to have them come out and look at it," Leise said.

In the Montlake neighborhood, two homeowners dodged a bullet when a 60-foot tree snapped and fell right between their homes on East Louisa.

Their good luck has the neighbors looking at life a little differently.

Community Sponsors

Police: Group attacks driver with snowballs, pit bull, bottle on 15th Ave.

Police: Group attacks driver with snowballs, pit bull, bottle on 15th Ave.

A group of people on 15th Avenue were pelting passing cars with snowballs and sicced their pit bull on one driver who pulled over to confront them last week, according to the Seattle Police Department.

The driver was travelling north in the 3200 block of 15th Avenue West around 3:48 p.m. Jan. 18 when his car was struck by several snowballs just after passing the Dravus Street overpass, according to the police report for the incident.

The driver told police he saw a group of people – six men and one woman – in their 20s throwing snowballs at passing cars while standing outside a 1970s El Dorado, or some similar car.

According to the report, the driver stopped his car, got out and tried to ask the group why they were throwing snowballs. In response, the group threw more snowballs at the his face and covered up their license plate with snow, according to the report.

The woman in the group, who had two pit bulls with her, sent one of the dogs after the driver, according to the report. The driver told police the dog bit him on the back of his ankle as he got back into his car but let go when he slammed it in the car door.

Police: Artwork worth up to $100,000 stolen from Interbay storage unit

Police: Artwork worth up to $100,000 stolen from Interbay storage unit

A man lost up to $100,000 worth of artwork when his Interbay storage unit was burglarized earlier this month, according to the Seattle Police Department.

The thief broke into the storage unit in the 2600 block of 15th Avenue West sometime between Dec. 29 and Jan. 17, stealing several pieces of artwork, according to the police report for the incident. The man told officers the most valuable piece missing is worth $1,600.

According to the report, there was no evidence of forced entry into the storage unit, and the lock was secure when the man arrived. The man pointed out screws holding the storage unit’s door in place, but there was no evidence they had been removed, according to the report.

The man told officers the only person who knew what was in his unit was the former manager of the storage facility.

City looking for storm-response stories from people with disabilities

City looking for storm-response stories from people with disabilities

Last week’s snow storm was challenging for drives, homeowners, parents and everyone else trying to manage day-to-day activities, but the challenges can be even more difficult for people with disabilities.

The city wants to know how people with disabilities coped during the storm, says the Seattle Commission for People with Disabilities, which has a group working on the City’s emergency planning and disaster management and response.

The commission is looking for recent weather-related experiences from people with disabilities, on topics including:

What happened to you during our recent week of snow and ice, as you tried to deal with the weather and all its challenges?

Did you use City information resources?  Were they helpful?

Is there anything the City could have done better?

What went well, what needs improvement? 

Were you – and your neighborhood - prepared?

The commission says it will work with city staff on the issues and feedback, to help improve the way the city assists the community.